Fluff and Foreshadow
by Sonnet Lacewing
Summary: A category of Tammy Drabbles which meet the obvious criteria of either fluff or foreshadow.
1. Drabble 63 Deer Trouble

Deer Trouble

Response to Tammy Drabble #63 – Behind the scenes (Every event in the book is pre-and-succeeded by another, and some might be interesting enough to write about. Something happens **behind the scenes**, so write about it!)

_Disclaimer: I'm not Tammy. 'Nough said._

The graceful doe stretched her long, tawny legs, bounded across the field and over a wooden fence in an effortless leap that seemed almost a choreographed dance of the finest quality. There she joined a herd of "hoof-sisters" who raced with her, enjoying the first warm day that Spring had brought them.

"You'll wear yourself out, Magelet," Numair called idly, but he wasn't really worried. He turned his attention to his journal, cataloguing the experiment, and marvelling at the number of animals Daine had already transformed herself into. It seemed to him that each transformation came faster and faster, and he hypothesized that the time would come soon that she'd hardly have to think about the change. It would simply take place.

He'd never heard the hunters approach, though their dogs were barking. These were noises he regularly ignored. It was the whiz of the arrow that pulled him from his book. Fear shot through his heart painfully, and he lept to his feet before he'd even realized it. Scanning the area for the deer that was Daine, he ran full out, dropping his journal somewhere along the way and managing to smear ink along his brow as he shadoweed his eyes in his quest. "Daine! Magelet!" He called frantically with no answer. When he spied the hunting party, black gift swirled around them, keeping them immobile.

By and by he spotted a doe laying on its side in the tall grass just feet from the tree line. For a moment Numair thought his heart might stop altogether. Then he saw the slight form of a girl crawl to the suffering animal. Daine seemed unconcerned by her state of undress, and wept for the animal she was endeavoring to heal.

Numair hesitated, caught between decorum and relief. He waited until Daine released the healed doe and retrieved her clothing, before he hurried to embrace her.

"Magelet, I think you will one day cause my heart to fail," he told her as he clung to her much more tightly than was probably called for.

"Numair?" she responded, looking up at him. "How long do you plan to keep them there?"

It was a moment before he understood who she was talking about, and then he ceased his spell. The hunting party raced away faster than he might have thought possible.

"I think you fair scared them," she said. "You'll be the talk of the pubs tonight."

"Better they fear me, than toast your memory," he replied, wondering at the way his voice seemed to tremble. "That was too close, Magelet."


	2. Drabble 66 Flavor

Tammy Drabble 66

Tammy Drabble 66

**Flavors **(note the American Spelling)

Word count: 464

_The usual disclaimer applies_

Daine was in a decidedly grumpy mood, and that was a completely abnormal state for the usually agreeable girl. Onua watched her muck out stalls using pitch fork motions that might have ripped and shredded any hapless creature in the way.

"I haven't seen you in a state like this since the last time you had words with the royal hunter," Onua finally remarked.

"Huh?" Daine didn't even look up. She continued to clean until there was no more to scrape, then filled the stall with fresh straw at an astounding rate. Finally, she jabbed the sharp prongs into the floor of the stable so hard that fork looked like it might be permanently mounted. Her brow was furrowed and she was hardly aware of her surroundings as she stopped to examine the hinged gate. She then retrieved a hammer and drove an offending nail back home with one sharp and swift strike that narrowly missed her thumb.

"Let's take a break," Onua said pointedly.

Daine followed dutifully, stopping only briefly to pat a new, skittish pony. Onua and Daine took a seat on the stable bench and looked out on a crisp spring afternoon. "What has you so worked up youngling?" Onua asked.

"The flavor of the month," she answered tersely.

"The what?"

"It's a who, actually, though if you ask me, any girl that absorbed by her appearance and fashions hardly counts."

Onua was so stunned that she didn't immediately laugh. It was inevitable though. "I think I need a better frame of reference."

"She's a lady of court. Numair's latest – friend." At fourteen, Daine was not commonly one to mince words, and so Onua could only frown.

"You don't like his choice of women?" Onua inquired cautiously.

"I knocked on the door for my noon lesson, and she answered. She didn't even let me explain why I was there. She simply shoved a dress at me and told me to have it mended and cleaned by this evening."

Onua began to chuckle. "She thought you were a servant."

"Yes. It must have been my castle uniform, or perhaps the large feather duster I wasn't carrying," she said sarcastically. Onua gave in to a fit of giggles while the girl continued. "This wasn't even the first time she'd seen me. For a smart man, Numair can be fair foolish when it comes to women. This one's even slower than the last."

"Daine, I never figured you for one to judge a person's intellect," Onua said. The remark brought a brilliant crimson to the girl's cheeks. "Dare I ask what you've done with her dress?"

"Back stall," Daine replied with a flip of her hand. "It'll make a nice bed for the new colt."

Onua laughed until she thought she might burst something.


End file.
